INDIANAPOLIS – Chris Ballard ended a historic first round of the NFL draft Thursday night with what Indianapolis Colts fans hope is a history-repeating selection. After offensive players were taken with the first 14 picks for the first time ever – including six quarterbacks among the top 12, another draft record – Ballard threw a lifeline to the defensive masses and gave coordinator Gus Bradley a prolific edge rusher with the No. 15 overall pick. Welcome to Indy, Laiatu Latu. He’s the Colts’ highest-drafted edge rusher since Dwight Freeney, taken No. 11 in 2002. In less than four months, Freeney will be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. It’s foolhardy to project a similar trajectory for Latu, but the 6-5, 265-pounder needs to bring similar disruptive skills to the Colts. In his final two seasons at UCLA, he generated 23.5 sacks and 21.5 tackles for loss. Latu’s pre-draft objective was to be the first edge rusher selection. He was the first defensive player. Period. “It means the world to me and I just can’t wait to get in the building and prove that,’’ Latu said in a Zoom conference call. He was a multi-dimensional force at UCLA. He played with his hand on the ground, up in a two-point stance, moved inside and occasionally was asked to drop in coverage. “I’m someone who can be comfortable in any uncomfortable situation. That’s how I look at pass rushing,’’ Latu said. “I’ve got a bunch of moves in my repertoire. I have three main moves, but I make sure that I dial down with a lot of moves because you never know what’s going to come (at) you come game time. That muscle memory is just going to kick in. When you feel that uncomfortable feeling, your comfortability is going to take over.’’ Latu joins a Colts’ defensive front that set an Indy-era record with 51 sacks in 2023. Even so, Ballard made his assessment of the pass rush clear during the offseason by making a strong push to sign free agent Danielle Hunter, who eventually signed with AFC South rival Houston. Latu described being drafted by the Colts as a “shock,’’ in large part because he had only an informal meeting with them at the NFL Scouting Combine. But a friendly face awaits him in Indy. Latu has been training under defensive line guru Eddy McGilvra, along with Paye, the Colts’ 2021 first-round pick (No. 21) and ’21 second-rounder Dayo Odeyingbo. “I’m going to be looking up to Kwity Paye a lot,’’ Latu said. “(I’ve) learned a lot from him. “I can’t wait to get in the building. I just look up to a lot of those dudes. I want to show them what I can do as well.’’ It wasn’t that long ago that Latu’s career in football was in doubt. After appearing in 12 games for Washington in 2019, he suffered a neck injury that required neck cervical fusion surgery. The medical staff at Washington refused to clear him to return and he briefly retired and eventually transferred to UCLA. Latu insisted Washington didn’t handle the situation correctly. It coincided with the COVID pandemic. “I didn’t have any physical examinations with any doctors at the time. It was an opinion of somebody’s without even looking at my physical,’’ he said. “I feel like they were doing what they felt was best, but at the same time I didn’t think it was handled in the best way. Just being told you’ll never be able to play football again and that whole time just grinding to prove all those people (wrong that) I wouldn’t be able to play football again that I can do it again. I trusted myself and I trust in the Lord and I know he’s got a plan for me.’’ The NFL did extensive medical work on Latu, and the Colts obviously were comfortable the neck issue was behind him. You can follow Mike Chappell on Twitter at @mchappell51.